The Christian Post: "Christian Universalism...Must Be Opposed"

[Hermano]

An interesting article today in The Christian Post for your consideration, which references, and links to, this forum (!):

“Christian Universalism ‘Alive and Well’ and Must Be Opposed, Says Modern Christianity Professor,” by Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter, Jul 3, 2018.

For myself, the most convincing argument supporting evangelical universalism has to do with the distinction between time and eternity. As I said elsewhere in this forum:

Is God Violent, Or Nonviolent?

Reconsider Matthew 25:46, regarding the fate of the damned and of the saved. Jesus says,

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life.”

1. But the Greek word translated “eternal” (or “everlasting”) is aionios , and does NOT in fact mean “unending or everlasting in quantity of time.” Rather, aionios speaks to an "indeterminate age set by God alone.” This adjective is used to describe something within time , not outside time (that is, in eternity). Aionios is the adjective form of the Greek word aion, where we get our English word “eon” (age). Young’s Literal Translation for aionios is always “age-during .”

2. And the Greek word translated in this verse as “punishment” is kolasis , a term used to describe the pruning back of trees, to allow fuller and healthier growth. It is also used to describe corrective punishment, “inflicted in the interest of the sufferer.” (For vindictive, vengeful punishment, “inflicted in the interest of him who inflicts it, that he may obtain satisfaction,” the word timoria is used.)

Note: Many erroneously believe that if you deny that the punishment of this verse lasts forever, then you must also deny that the “eternal” life of the saved is unending. But that doesn’t follow, because this verse is dealing with life, or punishment, WITHIN TIME, during the final eon. However, eternity is outside time.

[anon12438761]

That article was not very astute, was it? To summarily give the reader the impression that EU can be dismissed in a half-page is something I’ve learned to expect from mainline E’licals.

[Hermano]

True. But at least they tried to point out that there are distinctions among us. And they linked to this forum. And they ended the article with a good quote from William Paul Young.

[Origen]

Hopefully people won’t associate this site with “gnostic-based thinking”:

“Some speak out from a more gnostic-based thinking; while there are is also a website called The Evangelical Universalist Forum.”

Or that everyone is already saved:

“Christian Universalism, which positions that all people, not some, are saved through Jesus Christ,…”

[anon12438761]

H - I agree that they had a couple of somewhat balanced points! Thanks for the link.